KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The government has disbursed RM20.89 billion to 357,895 employers through the Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU) up to July 1, 2022, which is helping to keep 2.96 million local workers employed in an effort to reduce unemployment.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said for PSU 1.0, a total of 322,177 employers and 2.64 million workers benefited from the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package and the National Recovery Plan (Penjana), with wage subsidy applications worth RM12.96 billion approved as of July 1.

Under PSU 2.0, up to the same date, a total of RM1.41 billion had been disbursed to 81,158 employers, helping to maintain the employment of 719,024 workers.

For PSU 3.0, RM3.77 billion had been given to 162,307 employers up to then, helping to sustain 1.53 million jobs.

"PSU 3.0 has been improved with the Permai, Pemerkasa, And Pemerkasa+ economic aid packages,” the finance minister said in the 103rd People’s Financial Report issued today.

Under the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih), the government implemented PSU 4.0 with an allocation of RM3.8 billion, which is expected to benefit 2.5 million workers.

Up to July 1, RM2.56 billion had been disbursed to 163,696 employers to help them sustain their operations and maintain 1.92 million jobs.

For PSU 5.0, a total of RM188.07 million had been disbursed to 7,579 employers up to that date, helping them to retain 106,948 workers.

Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said 33,456 participants had been successfully placed in the public sector and government-linked companies (GLCs) through the Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MySTEP) up to June 30.

Of that number, 17,446 people were placed in the public sector while 16,010 were given jobs in GLCs and their strategic partners.

To assist youths with disabilities, Tengku Zafrul said, the government had also allocated a special quota of one per cent, or 800 job opportunities, for persons with disabilities (PWD) through the MySTEP programme.

"The government strongly encourages PWD to take this opportunity and apply to participate through the MySTEP portal,” he added. — Bernama